Ex-inmate renews complaint about 'gain time' at the county jail

Published: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 at 5:15 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 at 5:15 p.m.

Ocala resident Bill Friss on Tuesday renewed a complaint first made four years ago about how the sheriff was handling “gain time” for inmates at the county jail.

Under state law, inmates in county jails are allowed to earn time off their sentences for good behavior.

Friss told the County Commission that Sheriff Chris Blair was wrongfully stripping inmates of their gain time.

Only the commission could do that according to the law, maintained Friss, who once served 8 1/2 years in state prison for an attempted murder conviction and had been in the county jail prior to his release from custody in 2008.

Based on his own experience in being denied gain time while in the Marion County Jail, Friss lodged a similar complaint against a previous County Commission in 2009.

The debate eventually went to court, and in February 2011, a judge ruled for Friss.

Judge Frances King struck down Marion County’s policy, adopted in lieu of rules spelled out in state law, that granted inmates up to nine days off their sentences for each 30 days they perform in a jail work program. King determined all inmates — not just trustys in work initiatives — were eligible for a shortened sentence.

Friss on Tuesday argued that state law says Blair can only recommend taking away an inmate’s gain time.

That decision, he added, rests with the board, which was denying inmates their constitutional right to due process, and illegally extending their sentences, by allowing Blair to handle this unilaterally.

He suggested the commission should have a hearing each time Blair wants to strip an inmate of his or her gain time.

County Attorney Guy Minter countered that Friss was arguing that “common sense should go out the window.”

Blair, who operates the jail on the county’s behalf, has the most direct knowledge of why an inmate should forfeit that time, Minter said.

The board directed Minter to research the issue and return at a future meeting with a proposal that would delegate Blair the authority to administer gain time.

Minutes of a March 29, 2011, County Commission meeting indicate that the board had already done so.

At that session, held after King’s ruling, commissioners unanimously passed a resolution identifying the sheriff as the chief correctional officer with the authority to award or take away gain time.

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